The 2011–12 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans' head coach was

Tom Izzo Thomas Michael Izzo (, ; born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has le ...

, who was in his 17th year at Michigan State. The team played its home games at the Breslin Center in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 47,741. The city is located immediate ...

, and were members of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. MSU finished with a record of 29–8, 13–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for first place. The Spartans also won the Big Ten tournament. The Spartans received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 15th consecutive trip to the tournament, and reached the Sweet Sixteen, losing to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Previous season

The

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

finished the 2010–11 season with an overall record of 19–15, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. Michigan State received a No. 10 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 14th straight trip to the tournament, and were eliminated in the second round.

Offseason

The Spartans lost Durrell Summers (11.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game) and Kalin Lucas (17.0 points and 3.4 assists per game) to graduation following the season.

2011 recruiting class

Season summary

Senior

Draymond Green Draymond Jamal Green (born March 4, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, who plays primarily at the Power forward (basketball), power forward pos ...

(16.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game) was the unquestioned leader for the Spartans. MSU started the season unranked and suffered a loss to No. 1

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the

Carrier Classic The Carrier Classic was a series of college basketball games that were played on the deck of a U. S. Navy aircraft carrier. The first game was held on November 11, 2011, aboard , between Michigan State and North Carolina. President Barack Ob ...

which was played on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

in the first game of the season. The teams wore special camouflage uniforms for the event. MSU followed that loss with a loss to No. 6

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

in the Champions Classic. Starting the season 0–2, the Spartans refused to fold. MSU won the next 15 games in a row to jump into the top ten in the polls. The wins in the streak included a win at No. 23 Gonzaga. The Spartans finished the non-conference schedule at 11–2 and ranked No. 16 in the country. The winning streak continued in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

play with wins over No. 13

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and at No. 11

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. MSU also beat No. 23

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, No. 3 Ohio State, and No. 15 Wisconsin at Breslin Center. A loss in the regular season finale at home to No. 10 Ohio State meant the Spartans would share the Big Ten regular season championship with Ohio State and Michigan, all of which finished the Big Ten season with a 13–5 conference record. In that loss to Ohio State, key freshman reserve, Branden Dawson, tore his ACL, ending his season. The Spartans finished the season ranked No. 8 in the country. The Spartans, due to tiebreak rules, were the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament and beat

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, No. 14 Wisconsin, and No. 7 Ohio State to win the tournament championship. Draymond Green earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors, the fifth time a player had done so under Tom Izzo. Izzo was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year. MSU received a No. 1 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, where they beat LIU–Brooklyn in the first round behind Green's triple-double. The Spartans overcame Saint Louis in the second round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. This marked the 10th time in 15 seasons that the Spartans advanced to at least the Sweet Sixteen. The Spartans, missing Dawson and struggling offensively, became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the tournament, falling to No. 17 and fourth-seeded Louisville, 57–44.

Roster

Schedule and results

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Player statistics

Source

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings Source

Awards and honors

Draymond Green

* Big Ten Player of the Year * AP All-American (unanimous) * Sporting News All-American First Team * USBWA All-American * NABC All-American First Team * NABC Player of the Year * USBWA District V Player of the Year * Big Ten All Defensive Team * NABC All-District First Team

Tom Izzo

* Big Ten Coach of the Year * USBWA District V Coach of the Year * NABC Division I Coach of the Year

Branden Dawson

* All Big Ten Honorable Mention (Media) * Big Ten All-Freshman Team

Keith Appling

* All Big Ten Third Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Michigan State Spartans Men's Basketball Team Michigan State Spartans men's basketball seasons

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

2011 in sports in Michigan 2012 in sports in Michigan Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship seasons